Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1887-02-10
HENRY AND poNELsoN.

g. 1862. a rising young brigadier general,
named Ulysses S. Grant, was at the head of
the force that took it. The victory called for
the first time the attention Of the country to
this officer. The victory at Fort Henry, too,
was, strictly speaking, the beginning of tho
turning of the tide in favor of the north A
gloom like the fog of a winters day had been
on the country till then. Men in the north
We're signing for a hero-a man who should
be strong enough to take the head Of affairs
and turn heart sickening failure into victory
The hero was developing, though they
knew it not He who was to lift the cloud
was the silent man that, even in the midst of
the victory of Fort Donelson, was 'too busy
to write word
A notable point is the shortness of Grants
dispatches at all times. A few messages, Of
not many lines, to his surerior officer tell the
story of both Henry and Donelson. Gen.
Halleck, then at st. Louis, was in command
of tho department of the Missouri Grant
dispatched HalleclS, Feb G, that Fort Henry
had fallen. He added these words:
II shall take and destroy Fort Donelson on
the Sth and return to Fort Henry
But he had undertaken larger contract
than even he could fill in the time he pro-
posed. The freshets and overnows, which al
ways work such mischief in the south and
west, prevented, for one thing The roads
leading to Donelson were a sea of mud By
the backwater of creeks on each side of the
fort there was a sen of water two miles in
land from the fort.
The Cumberland runs north at the point
selected for Fort Donelson. About a mile
south of the fort, up the river, is the little
town of Dover This hamlet was the head
,.,,o,.ta,- nf eeororoI Ct;lo,,,
j. Pillow, during the siege 1t was in Dover
that the last Confederate council of war be-
tween Gems. Floyd, Pillow, Bucliner Col. N.
B. Forrest and others took place, previous to
the surrender of the fort to Grant Below
Fort Donelson, on the north, Hickman's
creek emptied into the Cumberland. II was
overnowed for miles, the water up to
horses breast Grant could not attack the
fort from that side. On the other hand,
however, in case the Confederates, being hard
pressed, wished to make a sally out from the
fort and escape by the Fort Henry road as,
in fact, they did wish to DO, this overfowed
creek would prevent them. So, ON the whole,
the backwater of Hickmans creek was an adj
vantage to both Lesieger and besicged. Above
Fort Donelsou, and between that and Dover,
was another stream Of water, Indian creek,
also overfowed.
Mud! There was never anything like it.
1t was "half leg Deep as specially mentioned
in Confederate official dispatches Grants sol
diers fairly waded in mud "up to their eyes,
when they marched from Fort Henry to be-
siege Dover and Donelson 1t flew from the
horses boots like rain and peppered man and
beast, when the cavalry splashed hither and
thither, in the vain fancy that they were
trotting. II rolled from the gun carriage
wheels and fell in huge masses at every turn
the artillery made.
1t must be remembered that it was Grant,
brigadier general, who had urged the reduc-
ton of Forts Henry and Donelson. Tho OBJ
ject to be gained by it was the clearing of the
Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, and the
occupation Of Tennessee and its lines of rail-
way. Grant was at Cairo and repeatedly
urged Halleck to let him visit st. Louis.
Leave was at length given. Grant visited
his superior and began to unfold his plan for
the capture of the two forts. But Halleck
silenced him at once and snubbed him
sharply.
Judge Force, in his book, says that Grant
''returned to Cairo believing his commander
thought him guilty Of proposing a military
blunder." And yet he persisted, importun-
ing again and again. Flag Officer Andrew
II. Foote, of the Mississippi squadron, urged
the same, and begged Halleck's permission to
let him and Grant move on Henry and Dom
elson. 1t was of length given, and Feb 2
Foote and Grant, infantry and cavalry forces
united, started up the Tennessee to Fort
Henry, with 1900 men and seven gun
boats
Fort Henry fell on the 9th. The Sunday
after Commander Foote took his place in the
pulpit of the Presbyterian church at Cairo
and preached an eloquent sermon on the text:
sIet not your hearts I've troubled We believe
In God, believe also in me-
Then he came down from the pulpit and
made ready his boats for the expedition
against Donelson, which surrendered Feb. l6,
just one week from that Sunday morning.
Engineers of the Confederate service agree
that the site of Fort Donelson was badly
chosen 1t stood upon river bluff. The
situation YVES elevated, TO be sure, but there
was a ring of hills around it. at from one TO
five miles distance. These hills were higher
than the bluff upon which the fort was, and
convenient for the enemy to plant guns
upon.